Punjab Legislative Assembly

Punjab Legislative Assembly
Punjab Legislative Assembly
15th Legislative Assembly of Punjab
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Established	1952
Preceded by	Interim East Punjab Assembly
Leadership
Speaker	Rana Kanwar Pal Singh, INC ; since 27 March 2017
Deputy Speaker	Ajaib Singh Bhatti, INC ; since 16 June 2017
Leader of the House ; (Chief Minister)	Charanjit Singh Channi, INC ; since 20 September 2021
Deputy Leader of the House	Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, INC ; since 20 September 2021
Deputy Chief Minister	Om Parkash Soni, ; Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, INC ; since 20 September 2021
Leader of the Opposition	Harpal Singh Cheema, AAP ; since 27 July 2018
Deputy Leader of Opposition	Saravjit Kaur Manuke, AAP ; since 16 March 2017
Structure
Seats	117
Political groups	Government (82) INC (82); Opposition (12) AAP (12); Others (19) SAD (14); BJP (2); LIP (2); PLC (1); Vacant (4) Vacant (4);
Length of term	5 years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
First election	26 March 1952
Last election	4 February 2017
Next election	February 2022
Meeting place
	Palace of Assembly, Chandigarh, India
Website
	Homepage
Constitution
	Constitution of India

The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. At present, it consists of 117 members, directly elected from 117 single-seat constituencies. The tenure of the Legislative Assembly is five years unless dissolved sooner. The current Speaker of the Assembly is Rana K. P. Singh. The meeting place of the Legislative Assembly since 6 March 1961 is the Vidhan Bhavan in Chandigarh.

History

British Raj

An Executive Council was formed under The Indian Councils Act, 1861. It was only under the Government of India Act 1919 that a Legislative Council was set up in Punjab. Later, under the Government of India Act 1935, the Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted with a membership of 175. It was summoned for the first time on 1 April 1937. In 1947, Punjab Province was partitioned into West Punjab and East Punjab and the East Punjab Legislative Assembly was formed, the forerunner of the current assembly consisting of 79 members.

1947 – present

On 15 July 1948, eight princely states of East Punjab grouped together to form a single state, Patiala and East Punjab States Union. The Punjab State Legislature was a bicameral house in April 1952, comprising the Vidhan Sabha (lower house) and Vidhan Parishad (upper house). In 1956 that state was largely merged into Punjab, the strength of the Vidhan Parishad of the new State of Punjab was enhanced from 40 seats to 46 seats and in 1957, it was increased to 51. Punjab was trifurcated in 1966 to form Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. The Vidhan Parishad was reduced to 40 seats and the Vidhan Sabha was grown by 50 seats to 104 seats. On 1 January 1970, the Vidhan Parishad was abolished leaving the state with a unicameral legislature.^[1]

Election results

Pre-Independence

Punjab Legislative Council

Year	UoP	INC	IND	Others	Total
Year				Others	Total
1920	-	-	71	-	71
1923	33	0	17	21
1926	31	2	12	26
1930	37	0	14	20

Punjab Legislative Assembly

Year	UoP	INC	SAD	AIML	IND	Others	Total
Year						Others	Total
1937	98	18	11	2	16	30	175
1946	19	51	21	73	11	0	175

Post-Independence

Years	INC	SAD	AAP	BJP	IND	Others	Total
Years						Others	Total
1952	96	13	~	~	9	8	126
1957	120	^			13	21	154
1962	90	19			18	27	154
1967	48	^			9	47	104
1969	38	43			4	17
1972	66	24			3	11
1977	17	58			2	40	117
1980	63	37		1	2	14
1985	32	73		6	4	2
1992	87	^		6	4	20
1997	14	75		18	6	4
2002	62	41		3	9	2
2007	44	49		19	5	0
2012	46	56		12	3	0
2017	77	15	20	3	0	2

^ - Party didn't contest election
~ - Party didn't exist
- Green color box indicates the party/parties who formed the government
- Red color box indicates the official opposition party

List of Assemblies

Council of Lieutenant Governor of Punjab (1897-1920)

Council (Tenure)	Presided by	Tenure (Presiding dates)^[2]
1st (1 November 1898 – 3 July 1909)	William Mackworth Young	1 November 1897 – 28 February 1902
	Charles Montgomery Rivaz	10 November 1902 – 28 February 1907
	Denzil Charles Jelf Ibbetson	29 July 1905
	Denzil Charles Jelf Ibbetson	5 August 1905
	Louis William Dane	3 July 1909
2nd (3 January 1910 – 14 December 1912)		12 March 1910 – 14 December 1912
3rd (4 January 1913 – 19 April 1916)		4 January 1913 – 18 April 1913
3rd (4 January 1913 – 19 April 1916)	Michael Francis O'Dwyer	19 September 1913 – 19 April 1916
4th (12 June 1916 – 6 April 1920)	Michael Francis O'Dwyer	12 June 1916 – 7 April 1919
	Edward Douglas Maclagan	10 November 1919 – 6 April 1920
	Harbert John Maynard (vice-president)	21 November 1918 – 12 December 1918

Punjab Legislative Council (1921-1936)

President

Council (Tenure)	Name	Tenure^[2]		Governor
1st (8 January 1921 – 27 October 1923)	Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler	8 January 1921	21 March 1922	Edward Douglas Maclagan
1st (8 January 1921 – 27 October 1923)	Herbert Alexander Casson	10 May 1922	27 October 1923	Edward Douglas Maclagan
2nd (2 January 1924 – 27 October 1926)	Herbert Alexander Casson	2 January 1924	16 January 1925	Edward Douglas Maclagan and William Malcolm Hailey
	Sheikh Abdul Qadir	16 January 1925	4 September 1925
	Shahab-ud-Din Virk	3 December 1925	27 October 1926
3rd (3 January 1927 – 26 July 1930)		4 January 1927	26 July 1930	William Malcolm Hailey and G. F. Montmorency
4th (24 October 1930 – 10 November 1936)		25 October 1930	24 July 1936	G. F. Montmorency, Sikandar Hayat Khan and Herbert William Emerson
4th (24 October 1930 – 10 November 1936)	Chhotu Ram	20 October 1936	10 November 1936

Deputy President

Council	Name	Tenure
1st	Mehtab Singh	23 February 1921	24 October 1921
1st	Manohar Lal	3 November 1921	27 October 1923
2nd	Sheikh Abdul Qadir	5 January 1924	16 January 1925
2nd	Mohinder Singh	5 March 1925	27 October 1926
3rd	Buta Singh	5 January 1927	21 July 1927
3rd	Habibullah	21 July 1927	26 July 1930
4th	Harbaksh Singh	8 November 1930	17 January 1931
4th	Buta Singh	2 March 1931	10 November 1936